Wood-plate-cutting machine.



Patented Aug. 5, i902.

NO'. 705,349. r

A SMITH WOOD PLATE CUTTING MACHINE.

No. 706,349. Patented Aug. 5, I902.

A. SMITH. WOOD PLATE CUTTING MACHINE.

'Application filed Oct. 10. 1901- -.No Model- 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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Warren STATES ANDREW SMITH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PATENT OFFICE.

WOOD-PLATE-G UTTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 706,349, dated August 5,1902.

Application filed October 16, 1901- Serial No. 78,800. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that I, ANDREW SMITH, of Chi cago, in the county of Cook andState of Illi nois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inlVood-Plate-Cutting Machines; and I hereby declare that the following isa full, clear,and exact description thereof, reference being bad to theaccompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to machines for cutting plates in a single unjoinedpiece from blocks of wood.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved machine for cuttingwooden plates from a block of wood, wherein a completed plate may be cutby one operation, the plate when falling from the block being completewithin itself without joint and without further manipulation beingnecessary for finishing it, the product of the machine being a plate ordish made of wood approximately convexo-concave, but having a flatbottom part, the entire body being made of a single piece and finishedby one operation of the machine. l

Another object of my invention is to provideamachine having rigidconstruction and positively-operating parts, whereby the cutting-oifknife will perform its work smoothly and without chattering in theperformance of its function and whereby the facing-knife will performits work without interfering with the operation of the cutting-offknife.

My invention consists in the novel constructions, combinations, andarrangements of the parts, as hereinafter more fully described, andspecifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings which form a part of this specification, Figure 1- is aside elevation. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same, part beingshown in section. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the machine. Fig. 4 is avertical longitudinal sectional view. Fig. 5 is a side elethe machine.

of the shafts, which constitute part of the frame of the machine. B is atable for supporting the block of Wood F, from which the dishes are cut.

O is a main driving-shaft, and O is an intermediary or counter shaft.

C is the main driving-pulley, attached to the shaft C. G is thebalance-wheel, which is also fixed to the said shaft.

Two gear-wheels (indicated by C are attached to theshaft O on the outerside of the respective housings for the purpose of transmitting thepower from the said shaft to the cutting-off knife D and two similargearwheels 0 are fixed to the shaft 0 and mesh into the formergear-wheels for the purpose of transmitting the power from the saidshaft to two other gear-wheels G which mesh into the gear-wheels O? andare shiftingly carried by the arms 0 and 0 arranged on either side ofthe housings A and A. They have bearings on the extended ends of theshafts O and on the endsof the shafts 0 by which the gearwheels 0 may bepartially rotated around the shaft 0. Gear-wheels C are fixed to thesmall shafts which extend through the respective housings and which havejournalhearings in vertically-moving blocks. These bearings are adaptedto slide vertically in slots or'ways a, made in the respective housings.Vertically-reciprocating rods D maybe made a part of the saidjournal-bearing blocks, which carry the shafts G or they may be madeseparately and connected thereto. The said connecting-rods are shown tobe partly contained within guiding-grooves formed into the sides of thehousings A and A. These rods are provided on their lower ends withinwardly-extending pins 61 which have rollers d" on the outer endsthereof. These rollers project'into cam-slots 0, made into thecam-wheels C 7 The rods D are adapted to be vertically reciprocatedwithin the guide-slots by means ICO once to time and extent, arereciprocated thereby they are the means by which the location of thecutting-off knife D is changed with reference to its vertical position.-The cutting-0E knife D is connected at either end into clamps 01 whichare the inner terminals of the knife'shaft C The arrows around theoutside of the various gear-Wheels show their respective direction ofrotation.

A facing-knife D adapted to be vertically reciprocated, is located justin front of the cutting-off knife or between the center of the shaftwhich revolves the cutting-off knife and the block of wood to beoperated upon. The facing-knife is held in a frame composed of twovertical side pieces D and a longitudinal bottom piece D joining thesaid side pieces. The latter is connected by a pitman-rod D to acrank-arm D of the shaft 0. Instead of the crank-arm D a cam, eccentric,or any convenient means for imparting reciprocating motion to theknife-frame may be employed.

The operation of my device is as follows: In Fig. 4 the knives D and Dhave arrived at the position shown. The crank-arm D is about to advancein the direction shown by the arrow of the wheel 0 The frame Dcontaining the facing-knife D in which the latter is shown located justabove the block F, will be drawn down by means of the pitman-rod D Theframe is adapted to be reciprocated in a vertical direction in the waysor guides made into the respective housingplates. The cutting-off knifeD will advance first and complete practically one-fourth of arevolution, cutting the block from f to f. The knife D is stationarywith reference to its vertical movement during the time that the roller(1 remains in that portion of the cam-groove c, which is of even oruniform radius, located between the points indicated by the numerals 1and 2 of Fig. 5. When the point 2 arrives at the position shown withinthe vertical path of the roller d the crank-arm D will have turnedone-quarter of a revolution and the facing-knife D will have reached aposition in the block F just above that occupied by the cutting-offknife. The cutting-off knife D being rotated while the cam c istraveling the distance between the point 1 and the point 2, it will havebeen rotated practically one-quarter of a revolution. When the part ofthe cam 0 contained between the points 2 and 3 is passing by the rollerd the side rods D will be drawn downwardly, and thereby the blockscontaining the shafts 0 ,110 which the cutting-off knife D is attached,will be correspondingly moved downwardly, and at the same time therotative motion of the knife D will be practically suspended, owing tothe fact that the vertical bodily movement of the gearwheel 0practically equals the rotative move ment of the gear-wheel C andtherefore the knife will have only a vertical motion imparted to itwhile traveling through the plane in the wood block indicated by f and fand for this reason it will cut a fiat bottom in the dish to be formedout of the block of wood F. When the point 3 of the cam arrives at apoint in the vertical path of the roller 01*, then the downwardlyvertical movement of the knife D will have ceased, owing to the factthat the part of the cam between the point 3 and point 4 is of uniformradius and that no reciprocating motion is therebyimparted to the knife;but the rotative motion of the knife will be resumed and the regionwithin the block contained between f and f at the bottom of the platewill be cut in the shape shown in Fig. 7. While that part of the cam 0contained between the points 4 and 1 passes the roller 01 the knife Dwill be rotated and raised to its vertical position or one-halfrevolution, which is accomplished during the time that the cam isrotating through the last one-quarter of its revolution, or, in otherwords, the knife will be rotated by the cam one-half of a revolutionwhile the driving-shaft is being rotated only one-quarter of arevolution, for the reason that the vertical upward movement of thegear-wheels, bearings, and knife will now become accelerated withreference to the speed of the gearwheels C by the vertical motioncoacting with the rotary motion to increase the speed of the wheels Oand for this reason the cutting-0E knife will travel the last half ofthe revolution much more rapidly than the first half. I have shown ahorizontal screw 17 and a knee-piece b for advancing the position of theblock F on the table B. This shaft may be rotated by any convenient orsuitable mechanism. It will be noticed that the cutting edge of theknife D is back of the axis of its rotation. This is necessary toprevent chattering as the knife passes through the wood. The shape ofthe knife D is shown in the three views Figs. 2, 3, and 4. The dish fromthe block F is cut during the downward stroke of the knife. The uppercurved portion of the dish is out while the knife is traveling from thepoint f to the point f in a rotary direction. The rotary motion of theknife is then suspended and the vertical motion cuts the flat bottom orcentral portion of the dish contained between the points f and f Thenthe vertical motion of the knife is suspended and the rotary motion isresumed, which carries the knife through the region contained between fand f when the dish is completed. The facing-knife D then faces off theedge of the block F for the next dish.

Many modifications may be made from the construction shown withoutdeparting from the true gist and spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and useful, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a plate cutting machine a frame adapted to support a block fromwhich the product is to be cut, a cutting-off knife adapted to engagesaid block, a means for reciprocating said knife, and a means forrotating said knife and in connection with the reciprocating means forreturning said knife to a position to begin another stroke within lesstime than that required to make the stroke.

2. In a plate cutting machine a frame adapted to support a block fromwhich the product is to be cut, a cutting-off knife adapted to engagesaid block, a means for reciprocating said knife, a means for rotatingsaid knife and in connection with the reciprocating means for returningsaid knife to a position to begin another stroke within less time thanthat required to make the stroke, and a facing-knife adapted to face theblock.

3. In a plate-cutting machine a revoluble cutting-off knife D shafts 0 0to which opposite ends of said knife are attached, gearwheels C 0 forrotating said shafts, hearingsupports for each of said shafts, adaptedto he reciprocated, a means for reciprocating said hearing-supports,driving gear-Wheels O (L on a shaft common to both, intermediateshifting gear-wheels C 0 connecting the gear-Wheels (J and G a means forholding said shifting gear-Wheels in train While gear-wheels G O arebeing reciprocated.

4. In a plate-cutting machine a drivingshaft 0, housings in which saidshaft is journaled, shafts 0 (1 a revoiuble cutting-01f knife havingopposite ends fixed to and connecting said shafts,vertically-reciprocating journal-bearings for each of said shafts 0 onsaid housings, guides in Whichsaid bearings are adapted to bereciprocated, means for coincidentallyreciprocating said shafts, adriving-shaft C, gear-Wheels C C on opposite ends of said driving-shaft,and an intermediate train of gearing for transmitting rotary motiontherefrom to the shafts C 0 In testimony that I claim the foregoing asmy own I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANDREWV SMITH.

In presence of- FOREE BAIN, M. F. ALLEN,

